"How do you get peace in a really bad situation? You may be in the fight of your life financially and about to lose your home. It may be that you've been diagnosed with lung cancer as my father-in-law was. It may be that your marriage is falling apart. You fill in the blank. We're either headed into a crisis, in the midst of one, or coming out of one. Now, coming out of one is great. We can see what God was up to in part, and we get a measure of peace from that. But how can we get peace if we're headed into or in the midst of a crisis? God tells us how to do just that in Philippians 4:4-9.....
"Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice" (Philippians 4:4)......
"Blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job 1:21)......
"Let your gentleness be known to all men; the Lord is at hand" (Philippians 4:5).....
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God" (Philippians 4:6).....
"the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard [our] hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:7)......
"God is telling us what to do in the midst of a troubling state of affairs. He's telling us to focus on Him and others; to think about Him, to pray to Him, and to think about Him again. It's not enough to pray. Once we pray, Paul says we're to force ourselves to think about the things of God and not what's bothering us. It's not easy; that's why it's called a battle. But the way we fight is to change what we're thinking about.....
"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things" (Philippians 4:8)....
"the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly" (Psalms 84:11)....
"But there's one more thing. You've moved your focus from your troubles to God and others. Paul says now to make sure you keep doing that. Keep doing the things God has told you to do. "The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you" (Philippians 4:9)....
"And that's what you need to realize; God is with you and will see you through one way or the other. And that's not resignation or defeatist. That's confidence. God has a plan for you and it's good. You walk with Him because He's walking with you. That's how you get peace in a really bad situation."
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